Research Notes

April 14 & 15

Plagiarism

• Plagiarism is taking someone else’s words and/or ideas without giving that person credit. It is essential that all work handed in is your own writing, and that ideas, facts, or language which you “borrowed” from a source be properly identified. Failure to give credit to any source other than you is plagiarism, and plagiarism is a violation against district/state code. (….and it is incredibly illegal!)

Plagiarism continued…

Example of PlagiarismThis paragraph is copied exactly from another source.News of the fighting at Lexington and Concord had

already reached the city of Philadelphia when delegates gathered for the Second Continental Congress in May 1775. Soon after the meeting began, John Adams urged other delegates to quickly create an American army. He said that the members of the Massachusetts militia camped outside of Boston were ready to be the first soldiers in that army.

Plagiarism continued…

This paragraph is restated in the writer’s own words; itis not plagiarized.Delegates to the Second Continental Congress met inPhiladelphia in May 1775. The American colonists and theBritish had already fought in Lexington and Concord, andit seemed likely that there would be more battles between the two. The delegates were strongly encouraged to form an American army as soon as possible.

Putting your notecards into your paper:

• Internal Citations are also known as parenthetical references. The purpose of citations or references is to tell the reader exactly where the information has come from. The citations (references) will look very much like your bibliography cards because the information in a bibliographic reference is what tells you where you read your facts.

• Following are examples of internal citations or parenthetical references:• Cite the author's last name and the page number of the source in parentheses after the quoted or excerpted information.• Example: "Seventy percent of all smokers began smoking as teenagers." (Albright 39)• 2. If you have used the author's name in your sentence, then you only need to put a page number in parentheses after the quote or excerpt.• According to Albright, "Seventy percent of all smokers began smoking as teenagers." (39)• 3. If you are simply referring to general information that you have read without giving any specific fact or statistic, then you must use the last name of the

author in the sentence, but you will not need to use a page number.• Albright believes that we can target teenagers with information about the hazards of smoking. • 4. If you have more than one article written by the same author, then you will list the author's last name, the title of the work, and the relevant page

number.• "Seventy percent of all teenagers began smoking as teenagers." (Albright, Don't Be a Slave to Smoking 39.)• 5. If you have articles that have authors with the same last name, avoid confusion by adding the first initial of the author's name in the citation.• "Seventy percent of all teenagers began smoking as teenagers." (A. Albright 39)

• 6. If you use a source that has more than one volume, then simply add the volume number after the author and place a colon after the volume number.• "Seventy percent of all teenagers began smoking as teenagers." (Albright 3:39)• 7. If there are three or more authors, list the last name of the first author and et al. (annd others)• "Seventy percent of all teenagers began smoking as teenagers." (Albright et al. 39)• 8. In case there is no author listed, use the title. The words a, an, the are not used if they are the first words of the title. As long as no other reference has

the same first word, you may abbreviate the title in your citation.• "Seventy percent of all smokers began smoking as teenagers." (Don't 39)• 9. If you should refer to more than one source within a single reference , list each reference according to the normal pattern; however, seperate each

citation with a semicolon.• "Seventy percent of all smokers began smoking as teenagers." (Albright 39; Halberg 101)

How to properly put the information you found researching into your paper

akaInternal Citations

• Internal Citations are also known as parenthetical references.

• Purpose: to tell the reader exactly where the information has come from.

• The citations (references) will look very much like your bibliography cards because the information in a bibliographic reference is what tells you where you read your facts.

Generic Citation

1. Cite the author's last name and the pagenumber of the source in parentheses after the quoted or excerpted information.

Example: "Seventy percent of all smokers began smoking

as teenagers." (Albright 39)

Author’s name already mentioned?

2. If you have used the author's name in your sentence, then you only need to put a page number in parentheses after the quote or excerpt.

According to Albright, "Seventy percent of all smokers began smoking as teenagers." (39)

Paraphrasing

3. If you are simply referring to general information that you have read without giving any specific fact or statistic, then you must use the last name of the author in the sentence, but you will not need to use a page number.

Albright believes that we can target teenagers with information about the hazards of smoking.

Same Author/Different Source

4. If you have more than one article written by the same author, then you will list the author's last name, the title of the work, and the relevant page number.

"Seventy percent of all teenagers began smoking as teenagers." (Albright, Don't Be a Slave to Smoking 39.)

Authors with the same last name?

5. If you have articles that have authors with the same last name, avoid confusion by adding the first initial of the author's name in the citation.

"Seventy percent of all teenagers began smoking as teenagers." (A. Albright 39)

More than one volume?

6. If you use a source that has more than one volume, then simply add the volume number after the author and place a colon after the volume number.

"Seventy percent of all teenagers began smoking as teenagers." (Albright 3:39)

More than one author?

7. If there are three or more authors, list the last name of the first author and et al. (and others) followed by the page number.

"Seventy percent of all teenagers began smoking as teenagers." (Albright et al. 39)

No author?

8. In case there is no author listed, use the title. The words a, an, the are not used if they are the first words of the title. As long as no other reference has the same first word, you may abbreviate the title in your citation.

"Seventy percent of all smokers began smoking as teenagers." (Don't 39)

Using more than one source in a quote?

9. If you should refer to more than one source within a single reference , list each reference according to the normal pattern; however, separate each citation with a semicolon.

"Seventy percent of all smokers began smoking as teenagers." (Albright 39; Halberg 101)

Research Paper RulesThese rules are to be followed TO THE “T”! There is no room for error.

1. Write the material in your own words.2. Write the research paper using past tense.3. Do not use first person or second person when writing the

paper. Write only in third person.4. Quotations are used only to emphasize important points

or as proof of your conclusions. The research paper should never be an informal essay.5. Give proper credit when you use someone else’s words.6. The first paragraph directly states the focus and intent of the paper.7. The concluding paragraph restates the major themes of the paper.

Continued….

8. Type your paper on a computer and print it out on standard, white 8.5 x 11-inch paper.

9. Double-space the text of your paper, and use a legible font (e.g. Times New Roman). Whatever font you choose, MLA recommends that the regular and italics type styles contrast enough that they are recognizable one from another. The font size should be 12 pt.

10.Leave only one space after periods or other punctuation marks (unless otherwise instructed by your instructor).

11. Set the margins of your document to 1 inch on all sides.

12. Indent the first line of paragraphs one half-inch from the left margin. MLA recommends that you use the Tab key as opposed to pushing the Space Bar five times.

13. Create a header that numbers all pages consecutively in the upper right-hand corner, one-half inch from the top and flush with the right margin. (You will start your header on the first page of your essay!)

14. Use italics throughout your essay for the titles of longer works and, only when absolutely necessary, providing emphasis.

Final Presentation1. Title page2. The body of the paper3. Bibliography

The last page of a research paper is the bibliography.

This is an alphabetical listing (do not number) of all your sources bythe last name of authors. Bibliography cards will be helpful inwriting the bibliography.

The first line of an entry is not indented, but be sure to indent the second line. Pay attention to the location of periods, commas,and colons as you write the entries

MLA Bibliographic Style1. For each source listed, begin first line at margin and indent

each line that follows.2. Use italics for titles of books, periodicals, and software.

Titles of articles are enclosed in quotation marks.3. Note punctuation and follow exactly.4. If required information, such as author or place of

publication, is not available, just leave it out.5. Arrange all sources in one list, alphabetically by first word,

which will generally be either the author’s last name or the first important word of the title.

6. Do not number bibliographic entries.

Sample Works Cited Page

Click on the following link:

Works CitedBrand, Debra, Sweeting, Gayle Gellars, and Michael Pollotta.

The Research Paper Made Easy. Coral Springs: Sawgrass Springs Middle School, 2005. Print.

"Middle School Research Guide." Web. 14 Apr. 2011.

http://www.acdsnet.org/uploads/file/library/MS_Research_Guide.pdf

Russell, Tony, Allen Brizee, and Elizabeth Angeli. "MLA Formatting and Style Guide." The Purdue OWL. Purdue U Writing Lab, 4 Apr. 2010. Web. 20 July 2010.